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Transformation Garden - February 2, 2016

2016Feb 02

COMMENTS

February 2

Today’s Text and Thought of Encouragement:

“Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s notice. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

My friends leave baskets of balm
at my feet
but I cannot bend to touch
the healing
to my heart.
They call me to leave
this valley,
but ˆ cannot follow
the faint sound
of their voices.
They sing their songs
of love,
but the words fade
and vanish in the wind.
They knock,
but I cannot find the door.
They shout to me,
but I cannot find the voice
to answer.

O God, find me!
Come into this valley
and find me!
Bring me out of this land
of weeping.

O You to whom I belong
find me!
I will wait here,
for You have never failed
to come to me.
I will wait here,
for You have always been faithful.
I will wait her,
for You are my God,
and You have promised
that You counted the hairs of my head.”

Ann Weems

Today’s Study Text:

“This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you … a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth … whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures on earth.”

Genesis 9:12-16
New International Version

EXPLORATION:

“Living A Fulfilled Life” – Part 3

“God brings His fulfillment into my life by keeping His word to me.”

“Fulfillment” – To contain everything that is essential. To bring to wholeness. To bring to completion.

How has God kept His word to me?

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night the brighter they shine.”

David Nicholas

INSPIRATION:

“God is the God of promise. He keeps His word, even when that seems impossible, even when the circumstances seem to point to the opposite.”

Colin Urquhart

I am fortunate to live in what is called “Red Rock Country” in Arizona. Most people, when you mention Arizona, think of vast spreads of desert covered by tall cactus with arms called Saguaros. But not all of Arizona is covered by dirt and sagebrush. Thankfully, I live in one of those areas that contains deep red rock canyons covered by juniper and pine trees.

During the summer months, especially in July and August, we are treated to very dramatic monsoon storms when massive clouds roll in and lightening and thunder become routine.

At some point during the storm, I always look around for the beautiful prism of a rainbow’s color that inevitably encircles Oak Creek Canyon from one side of the red rock walls to the other.

Several months ago, after a particularly violent storm that rolled in at sunset, I got a call from my neighbor. “Go outside,” she shouted, “You won’t believe your eyes!” Sure enough, she was right.

Covering the sky was not only one complete rainbow but three. One on top of the other. And the colors were something I can’t even begin to describe. The beauty took my breath away. I was speechless. My husband and I stood in the street, rain pouring down, just watching in wonder.

When I finally came inside the house, I went and got my Bible and turned to Genesis 9. I had to read the words again that are at the beginning of today’s devotional. “Whenever the rainbow appears,” God says to you and me, “I will see it and remember my everlasting covenant with you.”

I have to tell you, it gives me chills to look at a rainbow and think that my Heavenly Father is looking at it too – and He is thinking of me and remembering His covenant with me. That’s right, little old goofy me and God have a covenant. And what is a covenant? Webster’s Dictionary calls it a binding agreement. A promise. In the Hebrew, the word “covenant” is a promise made in blood. In the Greek, the word “covenant” is used as we would use “will and testament.”

When a covenant is made between two people it means in modern terms – you can go-to-the-bank on the trustworthiness of the person making the covenant. It means their word is good! It means they won’t let you down. It means when God told Joshua, “I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” that He meant what He said (Joshua 1:5, King James Version). It means that when we are in need, as the people in Isaiah’s time were, God will keep His word when He says, “I, God, will not forsake them” (Isaiah 41:17, King James Version). And in Hebrews 13:5, we are reminded again that when God made a covenant – a promise – it meant we could trust Him “God hath said, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

But this isn’t all – God doesn’t just say I can trust Him to always be there for me, He also tells me that what He says will “never pass away” (Luke 21:33). Now that is a covenant – a will – a promise I can always count on. These are words spoken by Someone I can trust in the good times and bad. Someone who’s there for me when I need Him most. And to make certain I don’t forget – God sends me a reminder. After every rain shower, when the sun appears, God says, “Look in the sky at the rainbow. Don’t forget you mean something to Me. We have an agreement – the two of us! Go outside and look into the sky and remember, we belong to each other.”

I hope you’ll never look at a rainbow the same way again. What a sign that you mean something to God. And that each day He is fulfilling His purpose for your life.

“Look, look, look to the rainbow.”

Finian’s Rainbow

AFFIRMATION

“Rainbows”

“A true sign of the miracles in God’s world occurs when a rainbow appears, bright and shining, through the darkest of cloudy days. We have sought pots of gold at the end of them, and have watched them appear in waterfalls, crystals, and other places. We never know when a rainbow will appear, and like the wonders of a rainbow full of its spectrum of color, we must remember that the One who made the rainbows beautiful also made us. We can be like a rainbow: full of color, shining.”

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